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Chapter 111: The Legacy of the Planeswalker (Part 2)
Closing the Card Collection, Brandon exhaled deeply.
Though not perfect, it was still an unexpected windfall—a massive one at that. Initially, he had only hoped to summon the Silver Elf maiden Metissa temporarily using Dark elemental crystals, relying on her to resolve the upcoming battle before sending her back. Frankly, it was an inefficient move; displaying the Unicorn Knight card cost 15 Dark elements, while its upkeep was far cheaper. The real issue, however, was his pitifully small Elemental Pool. Once his stock of Dark elemental crystals ran dry, he doubted he’d see the formidable elven knight again anytime soon.
But with Root Swamp and Chael’s Market now in his possession, he could just barely maintain Metissa permanently. Having a Gold-rank ally dramatically reduced the risks of his southern expedition and his plans to explore the territory. Moreover, he now possessed a card capable of retrieving units from the graveyard—though he couldn’t use it yet. Still, Brandon mused, could any Planeswalker truly struggle to find a land card if they set their mind to it? Tiger Finch had mentioned that cards like this were far rarer than land cards—but then again, Brandon wasn’t about to take the mercenary captain’s word for everything. He decided to probe Chael’s thoughts through Tiger Finch when the opportunity arose.
Compared to this somewhat unreliable middle-aged mercenary leader, the young squire seemed far more endearing.
However, the true value of this Card Collection lay in the long-term benefits. As Brandon flipped through it, he began formulating a rough plan. The other cards, though seemingly within reach, such as Blood Vanguard, Black Earth Lion, Master Kazandu, and Hylar Guard—all elite or non-elite summons ranging from Level 20 to 30—were indeed tempting. But Brandon’s short-term goals were different. Instead, he planned to first accumulate enough Wealth points to acquire the remaining two Fire-element land cards and one Wind-element land card in the collection.
Without basic lands and mana, even the strongest summoned creatures would be unsustainable. As the old saying went, “Before the troops move, provisions must go first.” This principle was universal.
His mid-term goal was acquiring the Wave Gem, costing 60 Wealth points, and the Silver Swallowtail Banner, costing 100 Wealth points. These treasure cards provided bonuses to Wealth and Prestige respectively, laying the groundwork for further power growth. Once he amassed sufficient Wealth and Prestige, the higher-tier cards might become attainable.
Take the Platinum Angel, for instance—a Level 60 elite Divine Artifact creature with an absurdly powerful ability. Summoning it would ensure dominance not just in Jandel's southern territories but across Eruin itself.
Still, Brandon knew better than to get lost in wishful thinking. Time was of the essence. Though the Dark Priest was dead, Conrad and the lizardfolk commander Hjúkigr would surely be on high alert. Based on information extracted from captives, Metissa’s necklace was likely in the possession of that accursed lizard. The battles ahead would be grueling.
With that thought, Brandon tucked away the Card Collection and turned to Tiger Finch. “What about the other items?”
“What other items?” Tiger Finch blinked in confusion.
“The Dark Crystals.”
“Oh,” the mercenary captain realized. “After the Blackfire Priest self-destructed, we found plenty, though they’ve all solidified and cooled. I’ve got my men chipping them out as we speak.”
Brandon immediately understood he wouldn’t need to worry about Dark elemental crystals for the time being. It made sense; every time players killed a Dark Priest, dozens of Dark Crystals dropped. Back in the day, Dark Crystals were among the cheapest elemental crystals on auction sites, alongside their equally abundant counterpart, Fire elemental crystals.
“Anything else?” Brandon pressed.
“Ah, yes,” Tiger Finch nodded quickly, pulling a dark, spindle-shaped stone from his chest. “Fleur found this too.”
Brandon recognized the bloodstained object without surprise. It was the container for the Blood of the Gods—the “sheath” Treeminders used to control the Divine Messenger once the Blood was injected into a host. However, Brandon had no intention of using it. A being fully transformed into a Divine Messenger became little more than a monster, stripped of their humanity.
He could have used the sheath to control the creature, but watching Cinnabar lose herself entirely, transforming into something unrecognizable, was something the young man couldn’t bring himself to do.
Taking the stone spindle, he applied slight pressure, snapping it cleanly in half with a soft crack.
“My lord?” Tiger Finch stared, startled.
Brandon shook his head, signaling him not to ask further questions. “Without the sheath, the Blood of the Gods will enter a dormant state for a short period. Inform the Gray Wolves that if the girl wakes up, have her meet with me alone.”
Tiger Finch caught the implication, nodding as he prepared to leave. But Brandon called him back. “Wait.”
“Yes?”
“Chael mentioned earlier that you live on territories formed by land cards?”
The mercenary captain nodded.
Brandon reviewed his own land cards. At the edge of the forest created by Sacred Grove, a pitch-black swamp materialized. Between the swamp and the forest lay a small town—Brandon observed it all as if from above, like a giant surveying his domain. He guessed the town corresponded to the physical manifestation of Chael’s Market.
Snapping back to reality, he asked, “Can you build anything there?”
“Of course,” Tiger Finch replied. “But the core remains the land cards. All resource cards are attached to them, used to develop the wealth and resources inherent in the land. Summoned creatures can also exploit these resources, though not at this stage. Overall, my lord, your grasp of power as a Planeswalker is still… unrefined.” He chose a diplomatic term to highlight Brandon’s shortcomings. “It’s also related to the immaturity of your deck. In fact, the sub-space of a Planeswalker forms its own world. Chael wanted me to convey this to you. That’s why Planeswalkers are so eager to collect more cards—mature cards accelerate the formation of this world, and a mature world, in turn, grants Planeswalkers greater strength. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”
“I see,” Brandon murmured.
“Any other orders, my lord?” Tiger Finch asked.
“Indeed,” Brandon nodded. “Tell everyone to prepare to move out. This is just one victory; our battle is far from over.”
“As you wish.”
---
Conrad met with the lizardfolk brigand leader Hjúkigr by noon the next day. Though Conrad, the leader of the Card Mercenary Company, had sensed trouble in the early hours, Hjúkigr clearly lacked his vigilance. The lizardfolk had ventured too far forward, and it wasn’t until morning that Conrad’s dragon-hunting cavalry finally caught up with the bandit leader.
Meanwhile, the dragon-hunting cavalry he’d dispatched toward Blackfire remained ominously absent.
Conrad anticipated things might be worse than expected. He continued sending dragon-hunting cavalry to maintain contact with Hjúkigr while hurrying back as fast as possible. He feared Brandon’s group had already broken through the defenses of the few lizardfolk guarding the Balrogan ruins, escaping northward under cover of darkness after defeating the Dark Priest.
If that were the case, their mission would have been a complete failure, resulting in heavy losses. Yet, Conrad never imagined Brandon’s current plan was to annihilate the entirety of the Treeminders’ forces here.
Thus, when he and Hjúkigr returned along the same path and found the Silver Elves’ ruins eerily quiet, both breathed a sigh of relief.
They saw lizardfolk patrols still active within the ruins, indicating their enemies were late to arrive—the flames of war hadn’t reached this place yet.
Or perhaps it was simply good timing.
“Donald, this—this is your plan?” Hjúkigr, the lizardfolk leader, turned to Conrad after relaxing slightly. Its elongated face seemed to loom larger before the mercenary captain as its emerald, diamond-shaped pupils glared coldly. “Many losses—I suffered. Compensation—double, after success.”
Conrad snorted disdainfully. He didn’t bother entertaining the lizardfolk’s greed. When had the notoriously ruthless Hjúkigr ever cared about its losses? This was merely an attempt to extort him. But Conrad had no patience for such games now. Something felt off. The Dark Priest was almost certainly dead, yet according to the intel, none of their three groups should have encountered issues.
Unless that white-haired brat dared deceive him?
Impossible. He trusted his methods; the young man had not lied. Besides, reconnaissance reports from lizardfolk scouts corroborated this. Conrad shook his head, trying to dispel the uncertainty clouding his mind—
But he didn’t know that not far away, within the ruins, someone was watching them closely.
---
Amid the crumbling walls and ruins of the once-magnificent Silver Elves’ architecture, Rubis mercenaries, Gray Wolves, and former Royal Guard heavy infantry of the Silver Elves waited silently in the shadows.
They awaited an opportunity—or rather, a command.
All eyes were fixed behind them, where Brandon was explaining his final plan to his subordinates. His objective was simple: strike first, strike decisively, and eliminate the threat.
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